Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has landed in the eye of a storm after approving the use of snipper sharpshooters and armored vehicles to beef up security for the 456 lawmakers in the country.

on Thursday reported that the new security spending for Uganda’s lawmakers came after the recent shooting of an MP, who later died.

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Wasteful spending

Hundreds of Museveni’s critics have said that the spending was wasteful and failed to address security concerns of normal citizens who fear rampant crime in a country marked by unsolved murders, waves of kidnappings for ransom, burglaries and robberies.

A letter by Mr Museveni on Thursday averred that the decision to boost security was taken after a meeting with members of parliament in which incidents of “criminality and terrorism” were discussed.

“Members of parliament ... have been singled out for intimidation and possibly attack. I have, therefore, decided to protect the members of parliament ... since they are being singled out,” Museveni said in the letter as quoted by Reuters.

Museveni said lawmakers would now be accompanied by military sharp-shooters and ordered the finance ministry to purchase armored pick-up trucks to use as escort vehicles.